Fire extinguisher nozzle for vehicles



July 3, 1951 DQDEUN' 2,559,408

FIRE EXTINGUISHER NOZZLE FOR VEHICLES Filed Oct. 11, 1946 42 as A 42 INVENTOR. FREDERICK .A. DODEUN Patented July 3, 1951 FIRE EXTINGUISHER NOZZLE FOR VEHICLES Frederick A. Dodelin, Glen Ridge, N. J., assignor to Pyrene Manufacturing Company, Newark, N. J., a corporation of Delaware Application October 11, 1946, Serial No. 702,821

The present invention relates to nozzles for fire-extinguishing systems of the type installed in vehicles. In particular, the present invention provides a nozzle in which the discharge orifice, or orifices, is protected against the ingress of foreign matter such as dirt, dust, grease and the like, and in which the orifice protecting means is constantly free for rapid and automatic movement to a position in which the orifice is uncovered whenever it is necessary to use the fireextinguishing system.

Many vehicles are equipped with fire-extinguishing systems in which a supply of a fire-extinguishing fluid such as carbon tetrachloride or the like is maintained in a suitable tank connected through automatic or readily-accessible manual valve means with one or more lines terminating in a nozzle strategically located within the vehicle for the extinguishment of any fires which might occur. The vehicles thus protected and for which the present invention is particularly adapted are those such as automobiles, trucks, trailers, buses, railway cars, tractors, boats and ships. These vehicles are of such a type that in normal use a considerable amount of vibration originates in the power plant, if such is provided, and considerable jarring and jiggling occurs during normal operation of the vehicle. The present invention utilizes such vibration, jarring or jiggling of the vehicle to maintain the fire-protecting nozzles in condition for instantaneous and efiicient operation irrespective of the dirt, dust and grease conditions to which such nozzles may be subjected and irrespective of the fact that they may be located in such position within the vehicle as to be relatively inaccessible for inspection or cleaning. The importance of such development is apparent when it is considered that the fire-protective installation in such a vehicle may not be used for many months or perhaps not used at all during the life of the vehicle, but nevertheless must be in condition for instantaneous and efficient operation if a fire should develop.

Ordinarily, the fire-extinguishing nozzles are located in such places as the engine compartment or baggage compartment or adjacent the fuel supply or arranged in the vicinity of the exhaust system all of which locations are those most hazardous from the standpoint of fire. These locations are also the most exposed to oil fumes, dust and dirt.

According to the present invention, the fireextinguishing nozzles are equipped with looselyfitting protective covers which extend over the.

4 Claims. (01. 169-2) 2. discharge orifices and which tend under the force of gravity to remain in such protective position. These loosely-fitting caps are loosely secured to the nozzle body in such a manner that normal operation of the vehicle will cause movement of the cover relative to the nozzle body thus to avoid the accumulation of foreign matter in such quantities and in such position as to tend to bind the protective covers in their protective position. Means is also provided for the automatic movement of the protective covers to a position to expose the orifices when the fire-extinguishing fiuid is admitted under pressure to the line extending to such nozzle. This combination of automatically-opening nozzle covers with the loose mounting thereof upon the nozzles has been found to be highly successful in connection with nozzles fitted to vehicles in the most exposed positions thereof.

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a protected, self-cleaning nozzle for fire-extinguishing systems for vehicles.-

Other and further objects of the invention will in part be apparent and will in part become apparent upon a consideration of the following description of a preferred but not necessarily the only form of the invention taken in connection with the drawings accompanying and forming a part of the present specification.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional View of a nozzle embodying the present invention and showing the protective cover in a closed position;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 in which the protective cover is shown in an open position.

In the drawings, the nozzle comprises an externally threaded hollow body I B the external threads E2 of which are adapted to receive an internally threaded fitting l4 having an inwardly turned frusto-conical surface it which corresponds to a frusto-conical end I8 of the body H3. An outwardly flared end 29 of a tube 22 is confined between the surfaces IE and [8 in a wellknown manner. The tube 22 is connected with a suitable source (not shown) of fire-extinguishing iluid. Preferably the fire-extinguishing fiuid is supplied to the tube 22 under pressure and it will be understood that the fluid may be supplied at will to the tube 22 by a suitable hand-operated or controlled valve or automatically by thermostatically-controlled valves.

The body it has formed thereon a flange or shoulder 24 which, as a matter of convenience, may be formed merely by reducing the external diameter of the body. It will be understood that if so desired, the portion 26 of the body ID as well as the external surface of the fitting hi may be formed as a hexagon or other shape suitable for cooperation with a wrench or the like.

A reduced, extended portion 28 of the body Ill comprises the nozzle head and it has formed therein a suitable orifice 38 through which the fire-extinguishing fluid may be discharged. The form of orifice selected for illustration in the present specification comprises a narrow slot extending around approximately two-thirds of the circumference of the nozzle head 28 whereby to discharge a generally semi-circular flat sheet of fire-extinguishing fluid. It will be understood that in the usual installation a plurality of such nozzles will be provided and that they will be so positioned with regard to one another as to completely blanket any desired area in which fire hazard exists.

The particular form of discharge orifice 36 is unimportant to the present invention inasmuch as any form of orifice such, for example, as the orifice shown or a plurality of perforations will be very small and very likely to become clogged with foreign matter particularly when installed in vehicles wherein oily fumes and/or dust are encountered.

The nozzle head 23 is substantially closed by a disc-like portion 32 extending transversely of the axis of the cylindrical body H). The disc 32 has formed therein a clearance opening 34 through which loosely extends a smooth cylindrical shank 3.6 of a screw indicated generally at 38. The shank 36 is thus free for limited movements radially of the nozzle head 28. The screw 38 is provided with an enlarged head iii the outer diameter of which is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the nozzle head 28 to permit the radial movements aforesaid. The outer threaded end 42 of the screw 38 is threaded into a cup-shaped protective cover indicated,

generally at 4 1. The protective cover 44 is formed with a cylindrical skirt is the lower edge of which is adapted to rest under the infiuence of gravity upon the flange or shoulder 24 of the nozzle body Ill, thus effectively enclosing the orifice 30. The head 4E1 of the screw 38 is so spaced from the disc 32 as to permit the protective cover to be raised sufiiciently to expose the orifice 39' as illustrated in Fig. 2. The inner diameter of the cylindrical skirt GB is slightly larger than the external diameter of the nozzle head 28. V

The interengagement between the inner surface of the skirt 46 and outer surface of the extended part 28 of the body it) or the interengagement between the surface of the shank 36 and inner surface of the opening 34 serves to limit the extent of movement of the cover 44 relative to the body in directions which are generally horizontal or transverse to the axis of the body l0. Similarly, interengagement between the upper surface of the screw-head 40, as viewed in the drawings, and the inner surface of the disc 32 serves to limit the extent of movement of the cover M in an upward direction in response to an increase in fluid pressure Within the body H]. The interengagement between the surface of the lower edge of skirt 46 and the generally horizontal surface 25 on the body If! serves to limit downward movement of the cover 44 relative to the body 10. These relativelymovable interengageable surfaces on the parts of the cover and body constitute a preferred form 4 of means for loosely securing the protective cover to the body of the nozzle.

It will be apparent that the entire protective cover and screw assembly is free to shift or rattle about in horizontal and vertical directions as a result of vibration, jarring or jiggling of the vehicle in which the nozzle is mounted. The nozzle must be so positioned within the vehicle that the protective cover M will tend to gravitate into the position shown in Fig. l and in this connection the nozzle illustrated herein should be positioned so that the axis of the nozzle extends generally vertioally. This requirement is not a precise one, but, of course, deviation from the vertical should not be so great that the protective cover 44 would tend to bind and become sluggish in movement.

The movement afforded the protective cover 44 incident to normal operation of the vehicle in which it is mounted Will prevent the accumulation of sulficient foreign material to cause sticking between such surfaces, for example, as the lower rim of the protective cover and the .generally horizontal surface of the flange 24.

The enlarged screw head ll) serves not only to loosely secure the protective cover 44 against removal from the nozzle head 28 but serve also as a piston against which the pressure of the fluid fire-extinguishing material introduced through the tube 22 is effective to lift the protective cover 44 from the position in Fig. 1 into the operative position illustrated in Fig. 2. The pressure in a vehicular fire-extinguishing system is never very great and the quantity of fireextinguishing fluid is necessarily limited. Thus it is important that all of the nozzles in the system may be relied upon to open quickly and substantially simultaneously. The present invention assures such opening even in the case of those nozzles in a given system which may be more exposed to fouling than others.

I claim:

1. A spraying nozzle comprising a hollow body having a generally vertically disposed wall and an orifice in said wall, a protective cover for said orifice including a skirt shaped substantially to conform to the exterior surface of the portion of said wall having said orifice therein, means for loosely securing said cover to said body including interengageable parts on said cover and said body respectively, said parts having relatively movable and interengageable surfaces enabling said cover to move relative to said body limited distances in generally vertical directions between positions respectively in which said skirt covers and uncovers said orifice and limited distances in generally horizontal directions, said surfaces including a generally horizontally disposed surface on said body upon which the lower edge of said skirt is adapted to rest when said skirt is in a position covering said orifice, and means connected with said skirt and responsive to an increase in fluid pressure within said body to move said cover to a position in which it uncovers said orifice.

2. A spraying nozzle comprising a hollow cylindrical body having an orifice in the cylindrical wall portion thereof, a protective cover for said orifice having a cylindrical skirt the inner di-- ameter of which is slightly greater than theouter diameter of said cylindrical body, meansfor loosely securing said cover to said body in telescoping relation therewith including interengageable parts on said cover and said body respectively, said parts having relatively movable and interengageable surfaces enabling said cover to move relative to said body limited distances in directions axially thereof between positions respectively in which said skirt covers and uncovers said orifice and limited distances transversely of the axis of said cylindrical body, said surfaces including a generally horizontal surface on said body lying substantially within a single plane and upon which the lower edge of said skirt is adapted to rest when said skirt is in a position covering said orifice, means for mounting said nozzle in such position that the force of gravity will tend to maintain the skirt of said cover in a position in which said skirt covers said orifice, and means connected with said skirt and responsive to an increase in fluid pressure within said body to move said cover to a position in which it uncovers said orifice.

3. A spraying nozzle for fire extinguisher systems in vehicles comprising a hollow body having a generally vertically disposed wall and an orifice in said Wall, a protective cover for said orifice including a skirt shaped substantially to conform to the exterior surface of the portion of said wall having said orifice therein, means for loosely securing said cover to said body including interengageable parts on said cover and said body respectively, said parts having relatively movable and interengageable surfaces enabling said cover to move relative to said body limited distances in generally vertical directions between positions respectively covering and uncovering said orifice and limited distances in generally horizontal directions, said surfaces including a generally horizontally disposed surface on said body upon which the lower edge of said skirt is adapted to rest when said skirt is in a position covering said orifice, means for mounting said nozzle in a vehicle in such position that said cover will tend to gravitate to a position covering said orifice, with the lower edge of said skirt free for movement in said generally horizontal directions while resting upon said horizontally disposed surface, and means connected with said skirt and responsive to an increase'in fluid pressure within 6 said body to move said cover to a position in which it uncovers said orifice.

4. A spraying nozzle for fire-extinguishing systems in vehicles comprising a hollow cylindrical body communicating with a source of fire-extinguishing fluid under pressure, said cylindrical body having a discharge orifice in the cylindrical wall portion thereof, a protective cover for said orifice having a cylindrical skirt, the inner diameter of which is slightly greater than the outer diameter of said cylindrical body whereby said protective cover may be loosely telescoped upon said cylindrical body and said skirt may be extended over said orifice, a shoulder on said cylindrical body presenting a surface against which said skirt may abut when positioned over said orifice, means for mounting said nozzle in a vehicle in such position that said protective cover will tend to gravitate into a position in which said skirt abuts said shoulder, and means for loosely securing said protective cover to said cylindrical body to permit movement of said protective cover axially of said cylindrical body to a position exposing said orifice when fire-extinguishing fluid is directed thereto under pressure and to permit limited movements axially and transversely of said body as an incident to normal operation of said vehicle said lastnamed means including a piston loosely fitted within said cylindrical body and having a rod extending loosely through an opening in said body into engagement with said protective cover.

FREDERICK A. DODELIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 367,324 Shields July 26, 1887 600,065 Evans Mar. 1, 1898 865,631 Cotter Sept. 10, 1907 

